Game of Thrones gets a condensed shooting schedule

CB Droege, 29th November 2011

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the lead writers and producers of HBO’s Game of Thrones franchise, once said they would allocate a season each for the first and second books of the Song of Ice and Fire series.

However, the duo then start talking two seasons per book, so as not to miss any of the important sub-plots.

Now, rumors are surfacing that seasons 3 & 4, which will cover the elements of Storm of Swords will likely be ordered and filmed together.

As far as I can tell, the rumor originate from the fact that a few actors have already been auditioned for characters which are to appear in season 4. Specifically, Icelandic actor Guðmundur Ingi Þorvaldsson may be under consideration for the part of Mance Rayder.

Of course, the decision to execute a combined shoot only makes sense when a studio knows in advance that they will be making two movies to cover one story.

Clearly, filming them together saves time, money, and other resources. No, the seasons haven’t been ordered yet, but HBO has already stated that they are planning on seeing Game of Thrones through to the end.

"The truth is when you see how thrilled he is with the production, we know we’ve succeeded partially by his satisfaction," said Plepler, the co-president of HBO, referring to George R.R. Martin at a press event this past summer, "We told George we’d go as long as he kept writing."

The decision gives the audience a sense of security, and I think it will increase their viewership and membership in the long run. It’s too bad that these kind of promises can only be made by premium stations like HBO, which don’t rely on ratings numbers to make their decisions for them every season

The new season of Game of Thrones, which is based on the second book, Clash of Kings, kicks off in April on HBO.